The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-08-15

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years her ministry were forbidden the pull
| pits of Great Britain. Why was it that so
many of them preached in the tieldsl Sim
| ply because they could not get in the
churches, And the name of the church was
given in derision and as a sarcasm. The
| critics of the church said, "They have no
order, they have no method in their wor
ship;h and the critics, therefore, in irony
ca led them "AIethodists."
| am told that in Astor Library, New
| York, kept as curiositios there are seven
| hundred and seven books aud pamphlets
| against Methodism. Did Intolerance t )p
that churchl No; it is either first or second
amid the denominations of Christendom,
| her missionary stations in all parts of the
world, her men not only important in reGg
ious trusts, but important also in secular
trusts Church marching on, and the more
intolerance against it, the faster it marched.
| What did Intolerance accomplish against
the Baptist churchg If laughing, scorn
and tirade could have destroyed the church
it would not have to-day disciple left.
The Baptsts were hurled ont of Boston in
olden times. Those who sympathized with
them were confined, and when a petition
was offered asking leniency in their behalf,
all the men who signed it were indicted.
| Has Intolerance stopped the Baptist churchl I
The last statistics in regard to it showed
about 10000 churches and 2,50O,000 com
municants, Intolerance never put down
anything
In England law was made against the
Jew. England thrust back the jew and
thrust down the Jew, and declared that no
jew should hold official position. What
came of iti Were the Jews destroyeds Was
their religion overthrown! No. Who be-
came Prime Minister of England years agos
| Who was next to the thronef Who was
| higher than the throne because he was coun-
sellor and advisers The descendant of
jew. What were we celebrating in all of
| our churches as well as synagogues few
| years ago. The one hundredth birthday
anniversary of Montefore, the great Jewish
| philanthropist. Intolerance never yet put
down anything
| 3. But now, my friends, having shown
| you the origin of bigotry or sectarianism,
and having shown you the damage it does,
| want briefly to show you how we are to
war against this terrible evil, and | think
| we ought to begin our war by realizing our
own weakness and our imperfections If
we make so many mistakes in the common
| affairs of life, is it not possible that we may
make mistakes i'll regard to our religious
| atfairss Shall we take man by the throat
or by the collar, because he cannot see re-
| ligious truths just as we do2 In the light of
eternity it will be found out, and think
there was something wrong in all our creeds,
and something right in all our creeds. But
since we may make mistakes in regard to
things of the world, do not let us be egotis-
tic, and so puffed up as to have an idea that
| we cannot make any mistakes i'll regard to
religious theories. And then / think we
will do great deal to overthrow the secta-
| rianism from our heart, and the sectaIian-
ism from the world, by chiefly charging
upon those things in which we agree rather
than those on which we differ.
Now, here is great Gospel platform. A
1
| says, IL don't believe in baby Sprinkling."
Shall | shove him off! Here is man com
ing up on this side the platform, and he
| says, 81 don't believe in the perseverance of
the saints Shall shove him Off No.
will say, do you believe in the Lord Jesus
as your Saviourl do you trust Him for
time and for eternityT He says YES :"
do you take Christ for time and for eter-
nifty" "Yes." ! say, "Come on, brother;
one in time and one in eternity, brother
now, brother forever" Blessed be God for
Gospel platform so large that all who
receive Christ may stand on 1t!
| think we mi y overthrow the severe sec
| tarianism and b.gotry in our hearts, aud in
the church also, by realizing that all the de-
nominations of Christians have yielded
noble institutions and noble men. There is
| nothing that SO stirs my soul as this thought.
| One denomination yielded a Robert Hall
and an Adoniram Judson; another yielded
Latimer and a Melville; another yielded
John Wesley and the blessed Summerfield,
while our own denomination yielded John
| Knox and the Alexanders-men of whom
| the world was not worthy. Now, | say, If
we are honest and fair-minded men, when
We come up in the presence of such churches
and such denominations, although they
| may be different from our own, we
ought to admire them, and we
ought to love and honor them. Churches
which can produce such men, and such
large hearted charity, and such magnificent
martyrdom, ought to win our affection-at
any rate, our respect So come on, ye four
hundred thousand Episcopalians in this
country, and ye eight hundred thousand
| Presbyterans and ye two and a half million
| Baptists, and ye nearly three and three
quarter million Methodists-come on,
shoulder to shoulder we will march for the
worlds conquest; for all nations are to be
sa we'd, and God demands that you and
help to do it, Forward, the whole line.
| Moreover, we may also overthrow the
feeling of severe sectarianism by joining
other denominations in Christian work. |
like when the spIingtime comes and the
anniversary occasions begin ana all denomi-
nations come upon the same platform. That
| overthrows sectarianism. In the Young
Mems Christian Association, in the Bible
Society, in the Tract Society, in the Foreign
Missionary Society, shoulder TO shoulder all
denominations.
Perhaps might more forcibly illustrate
this truth by calling your attention to an
incident which took place fourteen or fifteen
y9ars ago. One Monday morning at about
2 O'Clock, while her nine hundred passengers
were sound asleep in her berths dreaming of
home, the steamer Atlantic crashed into
Mars Head. Five hundred souls in ten
minutes landed in eternity. Oh, what a
scene Agonized men ard women running
up and down the gangways, and elutching
for tine rigging, and the plunge of the help
less steamer, and tho clapping of the hands
of the merciless sea over the drowning and
the dead, threw two continents into terror
But see this brave quartermaster pushing
out with the lifeline until he gets to the
rock; and see these fishermen gather
ing up the shipwrecked, and taking
them into the cabins, and wrapping
them in the fiannels snug ana worm; and
see that minister Of the Gospel. with three
other men, getting into life-boat, and
pushing out TOR the wreck, pulling away
across the surf, and pulling away until they
saved one more man, and then getting back
with him TO the shore. Can those men ever
forget that night And can they ever for
get their companionship in peril, compan-
ship in struggle, cOmpanionship IN awful
catastrophe and reScuel Neverl Never.
In whatever part OF the earth they meet,
they will he friends when they mention the
story Of that awful night when the Atlantic
struck Mars Head.